


His Faulty and Heedless Adoration

by lilacsandstars



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Draco Malfoy is Bad at Feelings, Draco Malfoy is a Good (fake) Boyfriend, Draco Malfoy is a Little Shit, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Female Reader, Y/N is literally suffering but she’s pissed about it, also fluffy, bennett lancaster is the best friend, draco malfoy x reader - Freeform, female y/n, i’m the professor in this, kinda slowburn, literally being in a relationship was their project i’m such an evil professor, no like literally i’m the professor, please like this i really hope you like this, pretty cliché ngl, y/n is over it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29259972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacsandstars/pseuds/lilacsandstars
Summary: Being paired in a project by your Muggle Studies teacher with a boy you cannot stand is never a good sign. Especially if there’s a bad past with said boy. Who is a bully. And always has been a bully. There’s literally no room for anything good in there. At least, if you never follow through with the inevitable truth that awaits.——————————————————in which the reader is paired with draco malfoy in a fake relationship assignment to study emotions and it ends in shambles that end up being mended back together.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	His Faulty and Heedless Adoration

**Author's Note:**

> pls lmk if u like this

Muggle studies was one of Y/N's favorite classes. It was real, it was an actual good class, and it was relaxing. However, having Draco Malfoy in said class was not what she had expected. Why was he even in there? Surely his father knew?

Besides that, he never really bothered anyone. Except for all the times he gagged when Professor Lucas began a new topic basing largely on muggles. The woman always waved Draco off, then snapping her fingers and causing his mouth to seal shut for the rest of the class. Y/N liked her.

Then they came upon the day. The start of their first semester of their fifth year. Y/N had already taken one of Professor Lucas's classes before, so she was excited to take another. She just didn't expect to see Draco Malfoy in it again.

The students all walked in and sat down, Y/N sitting with her friend Bennett. Bennett was a very close friend to Y/N, and she loved his company.

"Lancaster!" they heard a voice call for Bennett from behind them. _Malfoy_. Y/N turned with a scowl on her face and met his piercing grey-ish eyes. "Why don't you stand up from there and go sit somewhere else." Bennett raised a brow and ignored the blond, turning back around to talk to Y/N. But Malfoy had other plans.

"I'm talking to you, pincurl," Draco quipped, flicking one of the many curls on Bennett's head. "Take a hike." Y/N looked confusedly up at Draco, who was stuck on Bennett at the moment, and nodded encouragingly at Bennett.

"It's okay, Ben," she assured. Bennett sighed and nodded, standing and gathering his things as he left and sat with Luna Lovegood, one of his friends he had yet to introduce Y/N to.

Draco sat down, his eyes trained on Y/N as she picked at her nails.

"No 'hello'?" Draco asked playfully. Y/N shot him a look, and he huffed a laugh. "I don't understand how you're friends with Lancaster." Y/N stopped picking at her nails, sitting up straighter.

"Because he's sweet?" Y/N stated the obvious. "He's a really good guy, and I enjoy his company. He's funny." Draco's eyes seemed to narrow a bit.

"Bennett Lancaster?" Draco spat at the floor. Y/N nodded. "But he's a stupid Hufflepuff—"

" _Bennett Lancaster_ works harder than anyone I know, is the kindest soul I've ever met, and happens to understand human emotions better than a broken record like you," Y/N shot back. Draco's brows shot up as his mouth conjured a smile.

"Ooh, snappy," he whispered. Y/N groaned and rolled her eyes, facing forward rather than toward him. Professor Lucas walked in then, which was perfect timing.

"Good morning, students," she announced with a heavy sigh. "If you've had me before, welcome back! If not, hello, my name is Professor Lucas, and you are currently in AWP Muggle Studies! That is Advanced Wizarding Placement, in case you didn't know. So either you are a muggleborn who knows the basics, or you've had me previously!" Y/N felt her smile grow at the professor's voice.

"What a shame to be the alternative to taking this shameful class already," Draco remarked. Only a couple of the people in class laughed, but Y/N jabbed him sharply with her elbow. She couldn't tell you why, just that she was upset.

"What the hell?" she asked. "Shut up, or leave." He smirked and licked his top row of teeth, Y/N giving him an unimpressed look and turning back toward the front. Professor Lucas looked back and forth between Y/N and Draco, an interest sparkling in her eyes.

"To start this semester, I have a project for you all," she drawled. "It is mandatory, and it must be completed. I may be your muggle studies teacher, but that also comes with teaching you the differences in our world and a muggle's.

"That being said, I'm going to give you a partner. A partner to be in a relationship with. And at the end of the semester, you are to write an essay about your partner and partnership, and perhaps even break up." Y/N felt her stomach sink as she looked at the odds of being paired with Bennett. He was the only person in that class she actually tolerated.

Odds were 2 to 10. Not good.

"Now, I will hand you the rubric," she spoke as she passed out the papers, "and when I return to my desk, I will announce your partner." Y/N felt her stomach swirling. She had to be paired with Bennett.

Once Professor Lucas had finished passing out papers, she retreated back to her desk and straightened up the papers on it. Professor Lucas was in her mid to late twenties, had short curls, and pale eyes that made her look so kind. Y/N admired the teacher and her efforts so much, but what the hell was she thinking for making this a project?

"Ah!" she called. "Found it. Parkinson, Potter." _Ooh, ouch._ "Goyle, Greengrass." _Now that's funny._ "Lancaster, Bulstrode." _Poor Ben._ "Y/L/N, Malfoy." _Hold the fucking mayonnaise, she did not just say that._

Y/N tuned out for the rest of the announcing and slowly turned to meet Malfoy's eyes. He had a smug look on his face.

"Hi partner," he spoke snakily. She rested her elbows on her desk and placed her eyes in her palms, and groaned loudly. He just laughed. "It won't be that bad. Besides, we're going to ace this assignment and be the best couple here." Y/N glared at him and scoffed.

"This is going to go terribly, considering you have no idea how to act!" she whisper-shouted. He snarled at her irritably and snapped to her her attention.

"Just because you didn't get paired with your stupid little boyfriend doesn't mean you get to throw a tantrum," he scolded her. She looked at him wildly, and faced him quickly.

"He is _not_ my boyfriend," she fired back. "I just don't like the fact that I was paired with Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Prince, the one person in this classroom I was begging I wouldn't be paired with!" He looked hurt, then he was positively angry.

"Either you grow up and do this damned project and _stop_ acting like it's a forced marriage," he seethed, "or I'll just tell Professor Lucas we'll take a zero." Y/N kept fierce eye contact with the boy, contemplating the choices, then remembered her grades. She had to pass this class, or her parents would murder her.

"Merlin, fine!" she exclaimed. "Just don't piss me off the entire time." He nodded and they began filling out the second paper Lucas had passed out, being a get-to-know-you form that they would exchange once they filled it out.

Y/N passed hers to Draco, who passed his to her. A few lines stuck out to her.

**I like** _stargazing_.

**My favorite book is** _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_

**My favorite subject is** _potions_.

**My favorite color is** _red_.

**A few of my hobbies are** _quidditch, piano, sketching._

"I didn't pin you for the art type," she broke the ice. He looked up from hers, a smirk painted on his face.

"I didn't pin you for the art type, either," he smirked. She smiled and nodded.

"Since I was six," she tagged on. He grinned.

"Since I was five," he replied. She shoved him lightly, and he lightly dusted the spot she'd shoved.

"Oh, grow up, I don't have cooties!" she said snidely. He shook his head and began playing with the corners of her paper. She watched him intently.

_This is most likely not going to end well._

Oh, it wasn't. But not in the way she thought.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was the worst boyfriend in the entire world and Y/N Y/L/N stood by that statement with all she had. He was ignorant, he was cruel, he was inconsiderate, and he was so hard to get along with.

Like the second week being in this stupid fake relationship, for example. It was absolutely a nightmare. The first day beginning that week told Y/N that they were going to massively fail this bullshit project.

They were sitting in the common room, trying to find peace in reading until he decided to open his fat mouth.

"You're not even trying," he'd said with a sharp edge to his tone. Y/N sighed, containing her irritation as she closed her book, placing it aside as she turned to face him politely.

"We're not fighting are we?" she asked calmly. "Exactly. We're silent and relating to one another in a healthy way, and we're passing as long as we don't argue." He stuck his tongue in his cheek, looking away, then back toward her.

"So not knowing a thing about one another is passing?" he asked impatiently. Her eyes fluttered shut as she clenched her teeth.

"Malfoy, every time we try to have a conversation, it does _not_ end well, so apparently this is the best we can do," she stated plainly. He leaned his head back against the back of the sofa they were sat on, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

"Can we try?" the blond asked, sounding scared. Y/N leaned back against the arm rest behind her and kept her eyes trained on him, silence enveloping them. "Hmm?" He turned to her as he silently asked again, his head merely tilting in her direction.

"Sure," she sighed. He turned, facing her, but still leaned against the back of the sofa.

"Why do you hate me?"

"I don't."

"Then explain why you're typically the one with an attitude first."

"Because I want to beat you to it."

"Smart. Not the truth, though, I have a knack for seeing right through pitiful liars, now go on and tell me the truth, won't you?"

Her eyes widened a bit as she took in his accusation. It was true, she was lying, but the fact that he saw through her that well surprised her. That typically never really happened. No one really ever questioned Y/N, she never worried about it.

"Do you remember," she began timidly, "the girl from Borgin and Burke's before Hogwarts?" His face fell as his eyes widened and his jaw opened and closed rapidly.

"No," he mumbled. "No, there's no way that was you. Y/N, no." She felt her brows pinch so harshly it gave her a headache, and her mouth turned downward instantly.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Yeah, that was me."

_Many years ago, before they had attended Hogwarts, Y/N had been in Diagon Alley with her parents, searching for a necklace that her mother had been dying for._

_Y/N was walking around inspecting when two platinum blonds walked in. One a grown man, and the other a young boy, who she guessed to be around her age. She paid them no mind and resumed looking at the many artifacts that littered a table she was inspecting._

_She had a charmed rose pin in her left palm when someone snatched it from her. She whipped around, facing the thief. The blond boy was before her. He was flicking the pin between his fingers effortlessly, then looked away from the pin to look at her._

_"Wipe that look off your face," he spoke easily, his ego making his voice sound loud and obnoxious. "It makes you look worse anyway." Her face dropped as she placed her hands on her hips defensively._

_"Actually, that would suit you better," she retorted. "Perhaps you shouldn't be so proud, it really is a horrible look on you." He sneered at her and got in her face, his lip curled back in anger._

_"Watch who you're talking to, you absolutely hideous, wasteful girl," he spat. Her eyes widened and she shoved him back, her heart sinking deeply._

_"Get away from me!" she retaliated, her voice raising. "You're a bully!" He smirked and shoved the pin back at her, making her stumble backward a bit._

_"And you're a waste of air," he replied innocently. "Do us all a favor and disappear, won't you? Before you're here too long, of course. What are you, five?" She felt her eyes sting a bit, but even her tiny self wouldn't let someone get to her like that._

_"I'm eight, you dimwit," she hissed through her teeth. He laughed and shook his head._

_"Quite petite for an eight year old," he teased. "Oh, I apologize, are you ill? Is that why?" He laughed crudely, and she felt her brows pinch. She shoved past him, making him teeter sideways a bit._

_"Don't speak to me," she called without looking back. He laughed again and shouted after her._

_"Why? Are you a little slow? Hard of understanding?" he laughed. Y/N was trying to find her parents afterward, but apparently her parents had already found the blond boy before she could tell them what happened._

_"I don't care if you're a child," her father told the blond, "you don't speak to anyone that way. Regardless of if they are ill or not." The blond boy just laughed and walked away._

She knew him later to be Draco Malfoy. But Draco Malfoy did not remember her.

"No," he spoke, embarrassed. "Please tell me it wasn't. That was awful. Even now, I know I'm still not very nice, but I know that what I did was so wrong then." She just twiddled her thumbs and kept her eyes trained on them. He reached over and place his hand over hers, his eyes wild as she met them.

"Please," he begged. "I'm so sorry. Please accept my apology. Or at least acknowledge it. I was wrong then. I was such an awful kid, and I'm sorry. It was—I don't—I never meant it. I didn't know what I—what I was even saying." She nodded, and his face seemed to drop even more.

"Okay," she nodded. He was silent, just holding her hands, and they didn't move. She finally looked up, and his eyes were still frantic, his mouth pursed tightly as his face was much more pale than usual.

"I wouldn't ever say that now," he told her. She sighed and shook her head.

"Sure, Malfoy," she muttered. "But you said it then. So, the impact was already made." His hand unconsciously squeezed both of hers, and she looked up to see him look so upset it made him appear constipated.

"I didn't know," he whispered to her. "I didn't know then." She nodded and looked away.

"Let's just request different partners, yeah?" she asked. He seemed to straighten at that.

"No!" he suddenly burst out. "No, no no, no! Let me use this as making it up to you. My big apology. Please, _please_ , let me." She met his eyes again, and they were filled with sorrow and hope. And how could she say no when a Malfoy was quite literally begging?

"Fine," she mumbled. He sighed in relief, flopping backward into the couch.

"I'm warning you," he told her, "I'm about to be the damn best fake boyfriend you've ever had, I swear it." She felt her chest tighten and her head throb with anxiety, yet she couldn't help but be excited.

How would he make it up to her?

* * *

Draco Malfoy was absolutely the damn best fake boyfriend Y/N had ever had. He put her first as much as possible. He treated their relationship like it was real. He always smiled around her and made sure she was smiling, too. He was a shoulder to lean on. He was weak around her. 

She knew they were going to pass this project, ace it, even. But she also knew that he was passing right through her heart, and she didn't know how to block him out.

He slowly became every smile, every laugh, every _moment_. It was sickeningly soft and loving, and she was ripping herself at the seams because of it.

They had one week left. One week before the time ran out and they were to be pulled apart again, only to become enemies once again. It was shattering Y/N's heart. Completely.

"So, what're we doing today, darling?" he asked, their arms hooked together as they walked along the halls, sharing their free period.

"Whatever you have in mind," she spoke, but her words were taut, along with her form. Draco must've noticed, of course he noticed, he always noticed, and he slowly came to a halt, turning her by the shoulders to face him.

"What's going on?" he asked timidly. She sighed and tilted her head back, staring at the ceiling, but he placed that soft, yet calloused, cold hand on her cheek, tilted her head level with his own. "I'm not blind. You have to talk to me. It's part of the assignment." She scoffed and nodded, looking anywhere but at him.

"Of course," she mumbled. "The assignment. That stupid fucking assignment." His brows furrowed and he stepped closer to her.

"Y/N?" he sounded genuinely worried. "Why are you so upset? I thought you were okay with all of it. We've been having fun." She stuck her tongue in her cheek and tapped her foot anxiously, slowly pulling herself out of his grasp.

"I was until I realized what it was doing," she blurted. She was mortified on the inside, but outwardly, she was so overcome with frustration that she couldn't bring herself to care. "It's sick. It's unfair." He looked confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "It's actually an easy grade. We're so close to acing it, come on, let it go, whatever this outbreak is. Oh, wait, are you on your period again? Is that why? Do you need anything? Do you feel okay? Do you need me to go get some medication from Mada—"

"I don't want anything else from you! I don't want your fake adoration and attempts to make me happy just to pass an assignment! I'm done! Fail me, I'm done!" she shouted into the empty hallway, her voice echoing throughout the corridor. Her brows were pinched and her face was red hot.

"This isn't just your grade, it's _ours_ ," he spoke through clenched teeth. "You're being unbelievably selfish right now. Just let me help." She groaned loudly, pulling at her hair as she stared at the ceiling once more.

"I just said I didn't care!" she shouted. "Talk to Professor Lucas or something about it, I don't know! Get a new fucking partner, you do that on your own already!" He was completely enraged now, his fists clenched at his sides, his eyes wide with anger, and his pale face was tinging red with his fury.

"We only have a week left!" he countered. "What the hell am I supposed to do with a week! Hell, it took me an entire month to even get you to open up fully, and for me, too!" She clenched her jaw, looking down the hallway that led to the courtyard. She was ready to book it.

"Figure it out on your own," she replied, tired; yielding. She was giving up. "I can't do this anymore." She speed walked out to the courtyard, leaving the boy by his lonesome in that corridor, his mind flashing with questions and his face still burning red.

He groaned and retreated back toward his common room, having no heart to talk to Professor Lucas about the situation. And he didn't. For that entire remaining week.

* * *

"Good morning, students!" Professor Lucas called out gleefully to her class. "I trust your day has been lovely so far? If not, I truly wish the rest of it is. As you all know, today is the deadline for your project! I would like to hear your essay you all wrote about your time with your partner and what you learned about them. We'll go in order of the pairs! So, first will be—Pansy Parkinson and Harry Potter!" Y/N was sitting beside Draco, considering their paired partnership changed their seating arrangement.

It was miserable. They hadn't spoken since the whole ordeal in the hallway, and they both seemed very content on keeping it that way. But the entire time, regret plagued Y/N and all she felt was sorry for herself. She was so vague and rude to him, and even at the expense of that blame, she missed him. She was regretful because she had an entire week left with him that she could've selfishly enjoyed all to herself. And she tossed it all out the window.

She spaced out through everyone's essay readings until her and Draco were called forth.

"Y/N Y/L/N and Draco Malfoy!" Professor Lucas seemed rather excited for this one, and Y/N knew that bird would be shot down soon enough.

"We didn't do it," Draco mumbled out. Professor Lucas looked a mix of shocked and distraught.

"Why ever not?" she asked. Although, Y/N almost saw in the professor's eyes that she already saw this coming. It was peculiar.

"When we had a week left I kicked the bucket," Y/N explained dully. "I ditched and we never did the essays." Professor Lucas raised a brow and looked disappointed, but yet again so expectant. Like she knew the answer to her own questions already.

"You realize this means you both will be rewarded zeros, correct?" she questioned, her voice a low drawl. The two nodded lazily, and she sighed, pursing her lips. "I'll see you two after class." They both looked away, avoiding the professor's gaze.

The remainder of the class was boring and filled with people being so awfully awkward about their essays and assessments of one another. Y/N was cringing the entire time whenever she would tune back in and hear something embarrassing.

And before the two knew it, class was over. And the professor was standing at the front of the classroom, her hand propped behind her against her desk as she leaned against it, her legs crossed. She was challenging them with a look that said "go on, I'm waiting."

"Professor, I dipped," Y/N explained, bursting into the silence. "It wasn't Draco's fault. Give me the zero—two even, if you like—and give him the passing grade." She felt Draco's confused stare boring through the side of her head, but she refused to meet his gaze. It would break her.

"May I ask why?" Professor Lucas sighed. Again, it was so odd how the professor looked to know the answer already.

"I—," Y/N began, but cut herself off for lack of better words. "I just—I couldn't. I couldn't do it anymore." The professor raised a brow at her. "It was painful. I couldn't. It—hurt. Too much." And with that, she rose from her chair, the squeaking noise it made being piercing as she grabbed her things and zipped out of the classroom as fast as possible.

The professor sighed, her head hanging between her shoulder blades.

"I knew this would happen to one of you," she muttered. "It would make or break either one of you. I knew it, I shouldn't have ignored it." Draco was puzzled as he stood, leveling the professor with an accusatory glare.

"What do you mean, you knew?" he asked, his voice dripping with rising anger. She met his gaze, and shook her head sadly.

"You two," she explained quietly, "you have this unexplainable bond. Within you. The potential there, it's—well, it's beautiful. I know it. It's just so fragile." Draco was awe-stricken and confused all at once.

"What bond?" he spat. She sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time and swiped a hand down her face.

"Don't be so blind, Mister Malfoy," she whispered. "You know. You do." He quickly looked away, his posture failing him.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," he grumbled. Professor Lucas laughed and pushed herself off her desk, approaching him slowly.

"The project was to test your reactions with your partner. I saw you two, your adoration went deeper than a simple project, it laced within your _veins_ ," the professor looked as if it pained her to try to explain it she was trying to hard.

"See, Mister Malfoy? Muggles, wizards and witches aren't so different. Leaving someone is hard, when you love them. Having magic in our blood doesn't make our hearts any stronger, or any different for that matter. Even the most evil man can produce the most abundant love. Remember that." His face scrunched as he looked her up and down, skeptical.

"I'm not evil," he spat. She smiled as she let her head hang again.

"Yes, Mister Malfoy, I am aware, it was the metaphor that I was going for," she chuckled. He nodded as his shoulders relaxed a bit. She shook her head and kept her smile. "But nonetheless, evil or farthest from evil, you love her." His face dropped and his eyes glinted a vulnerable pain that the professor had never imagined she'd see in the boy.

"Professor, I don't love. And not her. I'm just having a rough patch." His eyes darted around and his shoulders rolled back, trying to maintain some composure.

"Does this rough patch include wanting to kiss her senseless and staring smittenly after her every day? You already do the latter," she smirked wisely as she said so, and his mouth opened and closed in shock.

"I most certainly do not," he blurted nervously. As secretive as he thought he was, Professor Lucas laughed inwardly at how untruthful that was.

"I'm not blind, Mister Malfoy," she spoke quieter. His eyes widened a bit as she said it. Had she heard the conversation? Is that why she looked so knowing the entire time? "You love her. Almost more than yourself." She laughed, and he rolled his eyes as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, pouting.

"It's not your place to determine what I feel," he mumbled. A softer expression grew on the professor's face as she placed a comforting, guiding hand on his shoulder.

"Draco," she called gently. It reminded him of his mother. "Don't lie to yourself. Don't lie to _her_." His eyes shot up painfully to meet the professor's once again. She looked open and kind, and so frustratingly knowing that it made his ego squirm with the shame that she knew him that well when he was only her student.

"Goodbye, Professor," he managed as he gathered his things, planning to leave the classroom as fast as he could carry himself. She sighed defeatedly, but gave him a small smile nonetheless. There was a painful silence.

"Goodbye, Mister Malfoy," she whispered, disappointment intertwined in her worlds. She turned away, retreating to her desk as Draco made his way to the door.

Right before he left, he looked back at the professor, his gaze locking there for a moment.

"You can," she answered the question that lurked in his eyes aloud. "You know you should." He inhaled a shaky breath, letting it out just the same, and nodded stiffly.

"Good day, professor," he called out more confidently this time. She sent him a bright, toothy smile that expressed nothing but excitement and elation.

"Good _luck_ , Mister Malfoy," she told him happily. He gave her a small smile as he took off down the hallway in the direction that he knew Y/N had gone.

He twisted down those corridors and empty hallways, his breath labored and his forehead covering in a thin sheen of sweat. He propelled himself with his arm around the sharp corners to avoid swinging too wide and slipping, dodging random students littering the hallways every now and then.

He saw the door he was looking for, and swung it open, bounding up the staircase to the tower. He stopped at the top, and there she was. Leaned against the rails as she examined the stars above.

"Are you finally here to shout at me for-"

"I'm so sorry," he ignored her. "I'm so sorry, for being so daft. I was an absolute coward, hiding from my feelings like that. I blamed it on that blithering assignment when it was you all along, it was just you. And I feel so weak saying that, but it's true, it was only you. All you. It was real. It was, all of it. I swear it to you. My sorrow turned to determination, and then it turned to _adoration_.

"I was a fool. I was an insolent fool and I didn't put you first like I vowed to do. Making it up to you be damned, I did it because I already was beginning to feel what I do now, and I understand that. I understand it now, Y/N. Please. _Please_ ," he was heaving for breath. She was dumbfounded. She was frozen. He was full of fire.

"What?" she asked, her mouth barely forming the word.

"Don't make me say it again," he laughed. "You heard me, love." She sagged against the rails behind her, her eyes wide with shock still.

"So you...you get it now?" she asked, her voice holding a slight tremor. He nodded and stepped forward cautiously, like approaching a frightened animal. She let him.

"I knew it this whole time, I just avoided it because I was afraid, and I didn't understand that I was capable of it." His voice shook with the insinuation at what he felt. Her eyes widened even more, which seemed impossible at that point.

"Do you—?" she asked softly, her voice so tender he almost asked her to stop talking in fear that it would fade away into nothingness. And he couldn't have that, no, he loved that voice. It was so pure. So beautiful. It carried its own melody, all to itself, and it rang out each time she laughed, spoke, exclaimed. Now it sounded quiet and weak, almost absent.

"I do," he whispered, still afraid. "I love you. At least, I know I _could_. We've gotten this far." She laughed with a relief that she didn't know she was capable of ever feeling. He returned the smile, watery eyed as he nodded happily. Proud of himself.

"I feel the same," she responded. His hand ever so carefully came up to cup her cheek once again, but this time with truth. With all emotion, breaking the reigns of the threshold they were afraid to cross. He was there; fully and wholly and recklessly, he was _there_.

And he began to lean in. His eyes darted between her eyes and her parted lips, her having done the same. Their eyes lidded and they slowly, ever so painfully, finally latched their lips in a soft, meaningful kiss. It was full of promise and adoration, full of apology and fulfillment of healing. It was so _right_ , and they were both drowning. They were drowning in one another and they could hardly breathe, but the burn was so pleasant.

It was the kind of burn that only hurt your first try, but that you learned to adapt to. They both were diving headfirst heedless of the trials they knew awaited them, because in the end, one thing was obvious.

Even faking led them together.

Their own school professor knew they would end up together at some point, it was painfully embarrassing and made Draco wonder if perhaps other professors knew it, too.

He knew for sure, never mind it all, that he would love her. He would love Y/N Y/L/N better than any damn idiot in love ever could.

And _that_ was a promise he would keep.

**Author's Note:**

> did this suck omg i feel like it sucked


End file.
